NY-23

DeMint Endorses Conservative Party's Hoffman In NY-23

Eric Kleefeld | October 27, 2009, 3:18PM

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC)

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), a leading right-wing voice in Congress, has endorsed Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman in the NY-23 special election, instead of moderate Republican nominee Dede Scozzafava.

By our count, this makes DeMint the fourth sitting member of Congress to endorse Hoffman, and the first Senator to do so, following Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-KS), and Rep John Linder (R-GA).

DeMint said: "Too often, we're told that Republicans have to be like Democrats to be competitive in states like New York, Pennsylvania and Florida. But the truth is voters don't want to be forced to pick between two liberals; they want a real choice. If voters want to give Washington more control over our lives, they can always vote for Democrats."

Jim DeMint

DeMint Spokesman: He's Not Trying To Intervene In Honduras

Eric Kleefeld | October 2, 2009, 2:43PM

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC)

Wesley Denton, a spokesman for Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), just told TPM that the Senator is not attempting to intervene in support of the military coup in Honduras, as part of his trip there today -- that it is simply a fact-finding mission to find out about the events on the ground.

The New York Times had reported: "One of the de facto government's main supporters in Washington, Senator Jim DeMint, Republican of South Carolina, has announced plans to visit Tegucigalpa on Friday. One Congressional staff member said Mr. DeMint hoped to meet with members of the de facto government and other Hondurans. Other staff members said he intended to encourage Mr. Micheletti and his supporters to resist."

"Sen DeMint did not announce that to the New York Times, they did not get that from our office," said Denton. "They did not speak to staff members from our office that I know of -- they certainly did not talk to me."

DeMint and his Congressional delegation did meet today with de facto Honduran President Roberto Micheletti.

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Mark Kirk

The GOP's New Foreign Policy: Undermine American Diplomacy

Eric Kleefeld | October 2, 2009, 2:04PM

Sen. Jim Demint (R-SC) and House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA)

An interesting pattern has been emerging in the Republican Party's handling of foreign policy: Individual GOP officials are now making a regular point of not only formulating an alternative foreign policy, to be presented to the American people and debated in Congress -- they're acting on it too, and undermining the official White House policies at multiple turns:

• Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) is visiting Honduras in order to support the recent military coup against a leftist president, which has been opposed by the Obama administration and all the surrounding countries in the region. (Late Update: DeMint's office says he is not taking sides during his visit to the current Honduran leadership, denying the New York Times reports that this was his intention.)

• Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) will be going to the upcoming climate change conference in Copenhagen, bringing a "Truth Squad" to tell foreign officials there that the American government will not take any action: "Now, I want to make sure that those attending the Copenhagen conference know what is really happening in the United States Senate."

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Jim DeMint

How Did Kerry Try To Thwart DeMint's Honduras Trip -- And How Did DeMint Foil Him?

Eric Kleefeld | October 2, 2009, 1:37PM

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) and Sen. John Kerry (D-MA)

So what exactly is the deal with Sen. Jim DeMint's (R-SC) trip to Honduras -- which is being done in an effort to support the recent military coup, contrary to current U.S. foreign policy -- and the failed effort by Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) to stop it?

Frederick Jones, communications director for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a Kerry spokesman, explained the distinction to us: Kerry was not blocking DeMint from going to Honduras -- any American can legally travel there -- but the issue was over government funding and plane travel for an official fact-finding mission. "Clearly, as an American citizen, Sen. DeMint is free to travel to Honduras commercially."

Kerry, as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, blocked DeMint's funding because DeMint has been holding up key nominations for foreign policy officials in Latin America -- thus obstructing the committee's business and the U.S. government overall in working on the region. In response, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) stepped in and obtained the funding for DeMint from another source, which has not yet been identified.

Calls to the DeMint and McConnell offices were not returned. Jones' statement, firing back at DeMint for blocking the nominations, is available after the jump.

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Jim DeMint

UPDATED: Obama, Kerry Put Kibosh on DeMint Trip to Honduras

Brian Beutler | October 2, 2009, 9:55AM

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC)

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) may believe health care reform will be President Obama's Waterloo. But the coup in Honduras may become DeMint's Little Bighorn.

DeMint announced earlier this week that he planned to visit the Central American nation to offer support to the illegitimate government of Roberto Micheletti, who was installed into power after the military overthrew President Manuel Zelaya on orders of the Honduran Supreme Court.

But the Obama administration, which has been unsupportive of the coup, and has begun to revoke the visas of the coup's wealthy supporters, ain't havin' none of that. Last night, the White House, with an assist from Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry deep-sixed DeMint's plans.

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